SpaceX Polaris - as it happened: Billionaire floats into space on risky first private spacewalk

Some space experts have questioned whether the Polaris Dawn mission is actually legal, claiming that it goes against the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. According to this treaty, any activities by non-government entities in outer space need to be approved by a nation state.

We’ve heard from Dr Ian Whittaker, a space physics expert at Nottingham Trent University, who says this 57-year-old rule is no longer enforced.

“The legality of this has been called into question as it does appear to violate one of the lesser known articles from the Outer Space treaty of 1967, however, this treaty is massively outdated and not enforced, which would be by the UN if it was,” he says.

“The success of the first non space agency astronaut spacewalk is extremely exciting for the private space industry as it is the first step on a longer road towards space tourism. The high cost will mean that only the ultra rich get to experience this for now but putting this cost in the hands of businesses means that taxpayer money can be used for other purposes.”

A billionaire going on a privately-funded spacewalk is proving as polarising as it is pioneering.

The Polaris Dawn mission, conducted by SpaceX but paid for by US entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, is the latest in a series of commercial ventures that are opening up space to anyone rich enough to pay for it. Previous private space flights have been praised by some for heralding a new era of space access, while being ridiculed by others as the latest folly of self-indulgent billionaires.

But this mission is a giant leap from the vainglorious joyrides to the edge of space undertaken by Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, who blew their billions on unconvincing attempts to call themselves astronauts. (Despite Blue Origin repeatedly referring to Bezos as an “international astronaut” during his 10-minute flight to the Kármán line in 2021, the trip did not meet the astronaut criteria set out by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which states that crew members must take part in activities that are “essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety”.)

By contrast, Polaris Dawn will travel more than 10-times further than either Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic have ventured and will last for days, not minutes. More than just a nice view for the crew, SpaceX says the mission will provide “valuable insight to future missions on the road to making life multiplanetary”, alluding to Elon Musk’s ambition to colonise Mars.

You can read more about why this mission might actually matter here:

This was easily the riskiest of SpaceX’s missions, especially its commercial work. But it was partly for a good cause, and could help carry humanity on to other planets.

The spacewalk is now over and history has been made. You can read our full article about the mission here:

The crew will now prepare to come back down and splash into the ocean, before being picked up by a SpaceX craft. When they’ve arrived they will be measured and scanned to understand how the flight – including their trip through the radiation belts off the Earth – has changed them.

The crew of Polaris Dawn have shared some images following their historic spacewalk yesterday, together with a message to those of us back on Earth: “Hello Earth – We are so grateful for all the support! Please enjoy two recent photos from our mission and stay tuned for our next message Sent to you from space over a beam of Starlink laser light.”